Gelatinase A inhibitor

Abstract: The present invention relates to a gelatinase A inhibitor comprising as an active ingredient a peptide analogue consisting of an active minimum unit of gelatinase A inhibition obtained from APP (β-amyloid precursor) or a peptide analogue comprising it. Gelatinase A can be qualified and quantified using any of the gelatinase A inhibitors according to the present invention.

Description: The present invention relates to uses of a gelatinase A inhibitor, for the manufacture of medicaments for inhibiting gelatinase A, against cancer metastasis and against inflammation, the inhibitor comprising peptides having specific amino acid residues, as defined in claims 1 to 9 appended hereto. Gelatinase A is an in vivo enzyme involved in cancer metastasis and inflammation. Inhibition of gelatinase A may serve to prevent cancer metastasis and inflammation. Gelatinase A is found in various tissues and cells, and known especially as an enzyme which degrades type IV collagen in the process of cancer metastasis. The gelatinase A inhibitor comprising the peptides having specific amino acid residues disclosed hereinafter can be employed as a reagent for qualitative or quantitative determination of gelatinase A. The invention therefore provides a process for determining qualitatively or quantitatively gelatinase A which comprises using a reagent selected from (a) a peptide having amino acid residues from 439V (Val) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID NO:1, or a glycosylated peptide thereof, (b) a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID NO:1, glycosylated peptide thereof, (c) a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID NO:1 in which the residues from 345M (Met) to 363K (Lys) are deleted, or a glycosylated peptide thereof, and (d) a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID NO:1 in which the residues from 289E (Glu) to 363K (Lys) are deleted, or a glycosylated peptide thereof. With reference to the accompanying Figures, Figure 1 (SEQ ID No. 1) is the amino acid sequence of APP 770; and Figure 2 is a schematic view of APP 770, whose amino acid sequence has already been identified as shown in Figure 1. In Figure 2, 1 represents the signal sequence from 1 M (Met), and 6 represents the peptide which is an active minimum unit of a gelatinase A inhibitor. This unit, in which carbohydrate chains are bound at 2 positions as represented by 2 CHO moieties in this figure, is called the glycosylated region. In Figure 2, domain 8 penetrates through the plasma membrane of a cell. In a normal cleavage process, APP is cleaved at the position designated by the arrow in the part of D in (A) of Figure 2, i.e., in the sequence of (D) of Figure 2. When D is not cleaved but closed and domain 7 is cut out at the both ends of the entire solid part as shown in the figure, the entire domain 7 is released as beta-amyloid (β AP). Then the β-amyloid deposits around neurons, and the neurons are degenerated and undergo atrophy, resulting in Alzheimer's disease. As mentioned above, development of Alzheimer's disease is suspected to depend on the position at which domain 7 of APP is cut, i.e., the center or the both ends. At least, it is found in the present invention that gelatinase A is involved in the cut at the position designated by the arrow in (D). Gelatinase A is known also as one of the matrix metalloproteinases secreted by cancer cells and the like. Gelatinase A is also suspected to promote local destruction of the tissues which occurs in the process of infiltration and metastasis of cancer or to promote migration of leukocytes during inflammation. Thus, it is expected that inhibition or suppression of the activity of gelatinase A may ameliorate of the diseases. It has never been known that gelatinase A can degrade β-amyloid protein or that the activity of gelatinase A is inhibited or suppressed by APP or degradation products thereof. WO-90/11287 discloses gelatinase A inhibitor TIMP-2 which is structurally different from the gelatinase A inhibitor disclosed in the present application. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 1990 Vol 167, No 2, pps 716-721 discloses a β-amyloid precursor fragment (Kunitz inhibitor domain) which does not inhibit gelatinase A and instead inhibits the activity of Serine-endopeptidases. The uses of the present gelatinase A inhibitor are defined in claims 1 to 8 appended hereto. The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows amino acid sequence of APP770 represented by single letter symbols. Figure 2 shows a schematic view of APP770. Figure 3 shows the characteristics of a purified 100-kDa inhibitor (total secretion APP). Figure 4 shows a high performance liquid chromatogram indicating the state of separation of β-AP peptide segments cleaved by gelatinase A. Figure 5 (A) and (B) indicate the state of inhibition of gelatinase A by purified APP. Summary of the Invention An objective of the present invention is to inhibit the activity of gelatinase A. As a result of intensive investigation, it has been found surprisingly that a secretory form of APP which is secreted by human cells (i.e., truncated APP) inhibits gelatinase A. It has been further confirmed that this secretory APP is of APP770 origin, and that the glycosylated region of this secretory APP770 has a potent inhibitory effect on gelatinase A. Thus, the present invention was completed. The moiety from domain 2 through the position halfway in domain 7 in (A) in Figure 2, i.e. the position to be cleaved by the arrow in (D) shown in the lowermost part of the Figure, is isolated as the secretory APP770, which has been assured to have gelatinase A inhibitory effect. The effect of secretory APP is identified for the first time in the present invention in relation with the inhibition of gelatinase A activity. In Figure 2 (A), domain 6, which is carbohydrate-binding region, is considered to be an active minimum unit of the inhibition of gelatinase A activity. According to the present invention, the active minimum unit of inhibition of gelatinase A activity is regarded as a peptide which consists of amino acid residues 439 V through 687 K of the amino acid sequence of APP770 in Figure 1 (SEQ ID No. 1). The useful property of gelatinase A inhibition is attributable not only to APP770 but also APP751 and APP695 APP695 which have already been known. The present gelatinase A inhibitors are useful in the manufacture of medical agents for prevention of cancer metastasis or as anti-inflammatory agents. In general, the secretory form of APP is secreted by various human cancer cell lines such as glioblastoma, neuroblastoma, EJ-1 bladder carcinoma cell line and the like, and can be secreted by any cells. In the present invention, APP is isolated readily from the culture of JCRB-0710 contributed from JCRB cell bank (stock line of human bladder cancer cells). From the culture fluid of human bladder cancer cell line EJ-1 (JCRB cell bank stock number JCRB-0710), a secretory form of APP (gelatinase A inhibition protein) having the molecular weight of 100k was obtained by affinity chromatography using a reactive red column and anion exchange chromatography using QA-824 column. This has been identified to consist of 18L through 687K in Figure 1. Although the amino acid sequence of APP770 in Figure 1 has been known, no activity of inhibiting gelatinase A has been identified. Purified secretory APP was subjected to limited digestion by lysil-endopeptidase, and the active segments were isolated to examine the inhibitory effect on gelatinase A. As a result, it was found that a peptide fragment in which carbohydrate chains were bound and which contained as a major constituent the peptide from 439V through 687K in Figure 1 had the efficacy. The amino acid sequence of the region exhibiting the inhibitory effect on gelatinase A obtained according to the present invention had no structural homology with known gelatinase inhibitors TIMP and TIMP-2. Figure 3 shows the results of electrophoresis of 100-kDa inhibitor (gelatinase A inhibitory effect) secreted by EJ-1 cells. a indicates the reverse zymogram of the supernatant of EJ-1 cell culture. The large triangle arrow represents 100-kDa inhibitor. Three small triangle arrows represent TIMP (28kDa), unidentified 22-kDa inhibitor and TIMP-2 (20kDa). The bands of negative image (white lines) indicate gelatine degradation activity secreted by tumor cells. b represents the results of non-reductive SDS-PAGE of purified 100-kDa inhibitor, while c represents the results of SDS-PAGE (lanes 1 to 3) and the reverse zymograms of 100-kDa inhibitor (lane 1, 2, 4 and 5) and human TIMP (lane 3 and 6). Equal amount (0.2 µg/lane) of the protein was analyzed under reductive condition (lanes 2 and 5) and non-reductive condition (lane 1, 3, 4 and 6). At this amount, both proteins were slightly stained with Coomassie Brilliant blue in SDS-PAGE, while they exhibited markedly stained gelatine bands (inhibitor bands) on the reverse zymograms. d represents the result of SDS-PAGE (lane 1) and the reverse zymogram (lane 2) of 100-kDa inhibitor which had been treated with endoproteinase Lys-C. The triangle arrows indicate two active fragments of 28kDa and 31kDa. 100-kDa inhibitor (200 µg) was incubated with 0.3 µg of endoproteinase Lys-C (Sigma, St. Louis, MO) for 60 minutes at 30°C in 60 µl of 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5) containing 2 M urea and 1 M NaCl, and a part of digestion products were subjected to electrophoresis. As a result, a peptide from 439V through 687 k of the amino acid sequence in Figure 1 was obtained. Preparation Example The supernatant of EJ-1 cell culture which had been incubated for 2 days in serum-free RPMI1640 medium was used for the preparation. The reverse zymography of gelatinase A inhibitor was conducted on polyacrylamide gel containing 0.1% SDS and 1 mg/ml of gelatine by a modified Herron's method. After the electrophoresis and subsequent renaturation, the gel was incubated for 18 hours at 37°C in 4 ml of reaction mixture containing 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5), 10 mM CaCl 2 , 1 µg/ml human progelatinase A and 1 mM p-amino-phenylmurcury (II) acetate (APMA), and then stained with Coomassie Brilliant blue. Progelatinase A which was the mixture of TIMP-2-binding form (<85%) and TIMP-2-free form (<15%) and which contained a small amount of 57-kDa active form and 41-kDa active form was obtained from the culture supernatant of T98G human glioblastoma cell line according to the method mentioned above. 6 L of the supernatant of EJ-1 culture was purified by the chromatography on reactive red agarose column (Σ) and Shodex (Registered Trade Mark) QA-842 anion-exchange HPLC column (Showa Denko, Tokyo) to obtain about 1.1 mg of 100-kDa inhibitor. Both columns were previously equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5)/0.005% Brij35, and the proteins bound to the columns were eluted with NaCl gradient. Figure 2 shows the structure of APP770 and the schematic view of the amino acid sequence of a part of 100-kDa inhibitor. (A) Domain structure of APP770. 1:Signal sequence; 2:Cysteine-rich region; 3:Acidic region; 4:KPI domain; 5:19 amino acid insert; 6:carbohydrate-binding region (gelatinase inhibitor domain identified in the present invention); 7:beta-AP region; 8:Membrane penetration region; 9:Cytoplasmic region. APP751 lacks region 5, while APP695 lacks both of regions 4 and 5. (B) N-terminal amino acid sequence determined for purified 100-kDa inhibitor. This sequence corresponds to an intact APP residue 18-28 (amino acid 18-28 residues of APP molecule) (arrow B in Figure 2 (A)). (C) N-terminal amino acid sequence determined for 28-kDa gelatinase inhibitor fragment. This sequence corresponds to an intact APP residue 439-446 APP770 (arrow C in Figure 2 (A)). (D) A part of βAP sequence consisting of the moiety obtained by normal proteolytic cleavage of APP (βAP10-20). This sequence corresponds to an intact APP residue 681-691 (bar D in Figure 2 (D)). Vertical upward arrow indicates the position of cleavage by gelatinase A. With regard to the sequencing of the proteins, purified 100-kDa gelatinase A inhibitor and its 28-kDa active fragment were manipulated independently in SDS-PAGE, and SDS gels were subjected to electrophoretic transfer onto polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane followed by automatic gas phase protein sequencer. Example 1 Figure 4 shows βAP peptide hydrolysis by gelatinase A and inhibitory effect of 100-kDa APP. βAP10-20 was subjected to reverse phase HPLC without treatment (I), after incubation with APMA/stromelysin activated gelatinase A in the absence (II) and presence (III) of 100-kDa APP. Peak 1 represents βAP10-20. Peak 2 represents βAP10-16 (Try-Glu-Val-His-His-Gln-Lys). Peak 3 represents βAP17-20 (Leu-Val-Phe-Phe). Abscissa:retention time (minute). Figure 5 (A) and (B) show the degradation of synthetic peptide βAP10-20 by gelatinase A. By heparin affinity chromatography according to the method by (Kolkenbrock), TIMP-2-free progelatinase A was isolated from TIMP-2 binding form. Proenzyme (1 µg) was activated by incubating for 1 hour at 37°C in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5) containing 10 mM Ca 2+ with 1 mM APMA and 0.25 µg of rat stromelysin. Then, the activated enzyme was incubated for 6 hours at 37°C in the absence or presence of 5 µg of 100-kDa APP in 50 µl of Tris-HCl/Ca 2+ buffer with 20 nmol (28 µg) of synthetic peptide β-AP10-20 (cf. Fig. 2D). Then the mixture was admixed with 0.5 ml of 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), and loaded to Cosmosil (Registered Trade Mark) 5C18 reverse phase HPLC column (4.6 x 150 mm) (Nacalai Tesque, Kyoto, Japan). The column was eluted at the flow rate of 0.5 ml/min with 15 ml of 0 to 80% linear gradient acetonitrile in 0.05% TFA. The amino acid sequence of the signal peptide was analyzed by a protein sequencer. As previously reported, rat stromelysin was purified with the proenzyme form and activated by APMA. Under the condition described above, stromelysin hardly hydrolyzed βAP10-20. Figure 5(A) and (B) represent enzyme kinetic analysis of the inhibition of gelatinase A activity by 100-kDa APP. Figure 5(A) shows the effect of the concentration of an inhibitor on hydrolysis of β-AP10-20 () and 3 H-gelatin (○). The maximum concentration of 100-kDa APP (5 µg/µl) corresponded to about 910 nM. Figure 5 (B) shows Lineweaver-Burk plots (1/v vs 1/(S)) obtained for the hydrolysis of βAP10-20 in the absence of 100kDa APP () and in the presence of 91 nM(○), 182 nM(Δ) and 364 nM(□) of 100-kDa APP. In (A), the hydrolysis of βAP10-20 by gelatinase A was assayed similarly as described for Figure 4 except that 0.5 µg of progelatinase A activated by AMPA and 0.125 µg of stromelysin was reacted with 0.2 mM of βAP10-20 for 30 minutes in the presence of 0.0 to 5.0 µg (0 to 910 nM) of 100-kDa APP in 50 ml of reaction mixture. βAP10-20 hydrolysis was determined from the peak area of βAP10-20 in HPLC (Figure 4-II). 3 H-gelatin hydrolysis activity was assayed by the method by Liotta et al., NATURE 284 , 67-68 (1980), using as a substrate a 3 H-labelled human placenta IV collagen (NEN; 0.31 mCi/mg) which had previously been denaturated for 10 minutes at 60°C. Activated gelatinase (0.5 µg) was reacted for 6 hours at 37°C in 50 µl of reaction mixture with 20 nCi of 3 H-gelatin. 3 H-gelatin hydrolysis by stromelysin (which corresponds to about 10% of the entire activity) was deleted. In (B), activated progelatinase was reacted with 30 to 400 µM of β-AP10-20 in the presence or absence of 100-kDa APP. The value of K i of 100-kDa APP (40 nM) in the hydrolysis by β-AP10-20 was obtained from the slope of Dixon plot (1/ v vs (I)) of the data in Figure 5A, and Km (130 µM) and Vmax (3.9 nmol/h) were obtained from Figure 5B using the equation shown below. 1/ v =1/Vmax + Km (1+(I)/K 1 )/Vmax•(S) SEQUENCE LISTING (1) GENERAL INFORMATION: (i) APPLICANT: (A) NAME: Oriental Yeast Co., Ltd. (B) STREET: 6-10 Azusawa 3-chome, Itabashi-ku (C) CITY: Tokyo 174 (E) COUNTRY: Japan (F) POSTAL CODE (ZIP): NONE (ii) TITLE OF INVENTION: GELATINASE A INHIBITOR (iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 1 (iv) COMPUTER READABLE FORM: (A) MEDIUM TYPE: Floppy disk (B) COMPUTER: IBM PC compatible (C) OPERATING SYSTEM: PC-DOS/MS-DOS (D) SOFTWARE: PatentIn Release #1.0, Version #1.25 (EPO) (vi) PRIOR APPLICATION DATA: (A) APPLICATION NUMBER: JP 5-120457 (B) FILING DATE: 26-APR-1993 (vi) PRIOR APPLICATION DATA: (A) APPLICATION NUMBER: JP 6-62129 (B) FILING DATE: 08-MAR-1994 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 1: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 770 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein (ix) FEATURE: (A) NAME/KEY: Region (B) LOCATION: 18..28 (D) OTHER INFORMATION: /label= Fig 2B (ix) FEATURE: (A) NAME/KEY: Region (B) LOCATION: 439..445 (D) OTHER INFORMATION: /label= Fig 2C (ix) FEATURE: (A) NAME/KEY: Region (B) LOCATION: 681..691 (D) OTHER INFORMATION: /label= Fig 2D (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 1:

Claims: Use, for the manufacture of a medicament against cancer metastasis, of a gelatinase A inhibitor comprising, a peptide having amino acid residues 439V (Val) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID No 1, or a glycosylated peptide thereof. Use, for the manufacture of a medicament against cancer metastasis, of a gelatinase A inhibitor comprising, a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID No 1 or a glycosylated peptide thereof. Use, for the manufacture of a medicament against cancer metastasis, of a gelatinase A inhibitor comprising, a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID No 1 in which the residues from 345M (Met) to 363K (Lys) are deleted, or a glycosylated peptide thereof. Use, for the manufacture of a medicament against cancer metastasis, of a gelatinase A inhibitor comprising, a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID No 1 in which the residues from 289E (Glu) to 363K (Lys) are deleted, or a glycosylated peptide thereof. Use, for the manufacture of a medicament against inflammation, of a gelatinase A inhibitor comprising, a peptide having amino acid residues 439V (Val) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID No 1, or a glycosylated peptide thereof. Use, for the manufacture of a medicament against inflammation, of a gelatinase A inhibitor comprising, a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID No 1 or a glycosylated peptide thereof. Use, for the manufacture of a medicament against inflammation, of a gelatinase A inhibitor comprising, a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID No 1 in which the residues from 345M (Met) to 363K (Lys) are deleted, or a glycosylated peptide thereof. Use, for the manufacture of a medicament against inflammation, of a gelatinase A inhibitor comprising, a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID No 1 in which the residues from 289E (Glu) to 363K (Lys) are deleted, or a glycosylated peptide thereof. Use, for the manufacture of a medicament for inhibiting gelatinase A, of a peptide selected from (a) a peptide having amino acid residues from 439V (Val) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID NO:1, or a glycosylated peptide thereof, (b) a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID NO:1, or a glycosylated peptide thereof, (c) a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID NO:1 in which the residues from 345M (Met) to 363K (Lys) are deleted, or a glycosylated peptide thereof, and (d) a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID NO:1 in which the residues from 289E (Glu) to 363K (Lys) are deleted, or a glycosylated peptide thereof. A process for determining qualitatively or quantitatively gelatinase A which comprises using a reagent selected from (a) a peptide having amino acid residues from 439V (Val) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID NO:1, or a glycosylated peptide thereof, (b) a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID NO:1, or a glycosylated peptide thereof, (c) a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID NO:1 in which the residues from 345M (Met) to 363K (Lys) are deleted, or a glycosylated peptide thereof, and (d) a peptide having amino acid residues from 18L (Leu) to 687K (Lys) of SEQ ID NO:1 in which the residues from 289E (Glu) to 363K (Lys) are deleted, or a glycosylated peptide thereof.

Inventors: MIYAZAKI KAOURU, MIYAZAKI, KAOURU
Applicants: ORIENTAL YEAST CO LTD, ORIENTAL YEAST CO., LTD.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: C07K14
IPC codes: C12Q1, A61P29, C12N9, A61P35, C07K14, A61K38, C12P21